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Monday, August 12, 2013

Review: One Year Lived by Adam Shepard & a FREE ebook offer!

A while ago - an embarrassingly long while ago - I received an email from a young man who had written a book about his journey around the world. We agreed that it was an interesting read for someone who is interested in un-traditional methods of education and I agreed to read the book and write a review.

And I got busy and...time got away from me...

But I am so, so glad that I did actually find the time to read this book!

Adam Shepard was at that point of young adulthood when you realize being an adult is not all you thought it was and at times it just seems like you go through the motions over and over and over and it becomes meaningless. Adam decided he wanted his life to have meaning, so with little money or planning, he set out to travel around the world. The experience of doing this, as you can imagine, added an incredible amount of meaning to his life and changed him in ways he could never have imagined.

Adam's writing style is very conversational, you feel like you are in the room with him listening to him tell his story, so that makes this book an easy read. Adam went into this experience wanting to get EVERYTHING he could out of it. He lived the cultures he visited, he experienced what life was like there, not as a tourist but as a native. He fought bulls, he worked on a cattle farm, he lived with native families.

What Adam learns about the world from traveling is far superior and richer and more meaningful than anything he could have learned in a history book. Now when he watches the world news, he has a much better idea of what is going on in the world...it's not just pictures on a screen and stories, it is real.

After reading this book, I decided that I would like Allie to read it, maybe to put a little travel bug in my little homebody-girl. Not sure that it worked entirely, but she really liked the book, there was a lot to discuss and she learned a lot from reading it.

I know young people who have volunteered their time to build schools and orphanages in various impoverished countries. I admire these young people so much. I loved reading Adam Shepard's book and getting an inside glimpse about what traveling the world in this way is like. I truly hope my girls take the time when they are in their twenties to travel the world and/or volunteer time in another country.

You can check out a video of Adam's experience fighting bulls here: youtube

Adam has offered a very special promotion. If you tweet about, facebook or otherwise promote this review post, just leave a comment with your email and I will send you a link to read his ebook for FREE!

Adam is a motivational speaker for high students and his book has gotten 4 and 5 star reviews by Amazon, GoodReads and other book review sites.